Is Late-Night TV Dying? The State of All Hosts and Shows

The summer of 2025 became a nightmare for late-night television hosts.CBS made the shocking decision to cancel Stephen Colbert‘s The Late Show.

Next was ABC; it briefly suspended Jimmy Kimmel over a Charlie Kirk-related “MAGA” comment, though the network reinstated his show a week later.Now, as Colbert’s show approaches its May 2026 conclusion, the comedian asked his fellow late-night hosts Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver to “make a case” for their line of work.

In response, Kimmel pointed out that the craving for late-night comedy is still alive and that people use various options like YouTube, social media and cable to tune in.With fictional series like HBO’s Hacks showcasing the pressures of the late-night TV world, viewers are asking if the long-running staple might be dying at the hands of their parent companies.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Ending CBS announced in July 2025 that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end in May 2026.Network executives cited finances as the reason behind the cancelation.

“We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire The Late Show franchise in May of 2026,” CBS said in a statement.“We are proud that Stephen called CBS home.

He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television.This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.

It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.” Two months later, Colbert and his staff took home the Emmy Award for best talk series.Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Still on the Air An ABC spokesperson revealed in a brief September 2025 statement that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would “be pre-empted indefinitely.” The announcement came shortly after the comedian said, “The MAGA Gang (is) desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them...